Are the Howards from Tyrone, Ireland who were buried in Mono, Ontario, Canada related?

Question

The following four people were born in Tyrone according to family information and died in Mono township, Dufferin, Ontario, Canada. They were close in age.

• Elizabeth Howard born 1791 in New Mills, Tyrone married John Phenix and died in Mono in 1872.
• Joseph Howard born 1793 in New Mills, Tyrone married Elizabeth Taylor in Ireland and died in Mono in 1864.
• James Howard born 1800 in New Mills, Tyrone married Margaret McGrast and died in Mono in 1854.
• Elizabeth Howard born 1808 in Tyrone married Robert Phenix and lived in Mono. She appears to have died in Mono and is remembered on a family stone without date of death.

How do I find if they were related or not? Any help or information about these people before 1871 would be appreciated. I do have descendant information.

Answer 1

Judith,

First a note on geography as it may be helpful for others trying to answer the question who might not be familiar with the area:

Dufferin County was not officially formed until 1881 so technically it should be Mono Township, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. (except possibly for the Elizabeth born 1808 since we do not know if she died before or after 1881).

Even though Dufferin County was formed in 1881 it did not become a distinct census district until 1911. Any enumerations for Mono prior to that year should be found in the Simcoe County Census District.

 

As far as records I have not found anything useful in answering your question but did find some pieces of information you may be interested in being aware of as they may point to different Howard families being resident in the area (of course it could equally point to a re-uniting of branches of one Howard family)

There is a database entry on the Library and Archives Canada Website for a James Howard emigrating to Mono Mills (via Toronto) in 1847.

There is a land petition by a Samuel Howard, residing at Albion Twp. in 1835, for land in Mono Township.

Comments

Hi Judith.   There were a number of Howard families in Ontario or upper Canada or Canada West as it was called. My ancesters were UEL's who settled in the Kingston area. Lt John Howard was born in Dublin Ireland about 1735 and came to the colonies in 1755 as a member of the KRRNY. (British military) . He was stationed in PA and W Va. He sent his eldest son (born in 1775) to Ireland to live with an uncle and get an education, so there were obviously other Dunkley families there. Possibly related, but I have been unable to find a connection. Lt John's father is possibly Thomas Howard born c 1700 in Dublin. The Howard's are rumoured to have come to Ireland as part of King Charles army in the mid 1600's. If true, then there may be a connection. There are also references in my family notes about other Howards in the Kinston area.  If you wish to check my tree, look up Thomas Howard-6285

Bill Dunkley

---

Thank you for your information. I think that James Howard in the immigration record may be the same James, so that clue may well turn out to help me find more. Samuel's record leaves more questions than answers, but clues may always lead to a find. Thanks for the background, too.